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Re: Dwindling Supply

OK, if it were me, after reading those links Meg shared, I would stop pumping and just nurse your baby as often as he requests. It sounds like you were doing a really good job prior to all of this, too. It could be that your baby is hitting a growth spurt and needs to just nurse more often. This is all good stuff for me to read, too, because my babies are similarly aged (16 wks) and I'm having some similar struggles right now. Anyway, please consider stopping pumping. I don't think it could be doing you any good if you just took that time and nursed your baby and stayed happier and got a little extra rest and all of that. It sounds like you're doing great, working hard and bottles and pumping are not what you need if baby is nursing well anyway. Hang in there and welcome to the LLL forums!

Re: Dwindling Supply

If you want birth control ideas here a few non-hormonal - barrier methods, charting/FAM/NFP (learning when you are fertile and abstaining then or using a barrier which is only as effective as the barrier then, more reliable with just abstaining during fertile times. I would not use hormonal bc esp while nursing. Sorry for the abbreviations - typing 1 handed.

Re: Dwindling Supply

BF-safe birth control options:
- all barrier methods, including male condoms, female condoms, sponge, cervical cap, diaphragm, spermicidal gels, inserts, and films
- ParaGard, the copper IUD
- fertility awareness methods (FAM)- not a good option for women who have never used this method before
- lactational amenorrhea method (LAM)- only good for the first 6 months of the baby's life, and then only for women who don't have their periods back, who are exclusively nursing (no bottles, no solids, no pacifiers), and whose babies never go >6 hours without nursing
- withdrawal- another one that's not great for first-time users, relies on the male partner's ability to know when he will orgasm
- outercourse (i.e. non-penetrative sex)
- abstinence

Re: Dwindling Supply

Thank you all so much! I have made the decision to stop pumping for the time being. It was very exhausting and I do believe like you all had been saying that it may have been causing more harm than good. Thank you for the kellymom article - very informative and very good to know. I feel so much better about it all now..... I do believe it may have been a bit of a false alarm, although I do think maybe the birth control was good to stop too.

Thank you for the info on safe birth control options. I will definitely be looking into all of them and we will either just use condoms or abstinence in the meantime.

I really appreciate all the feedback! My mind is much more at ease now.